GarageGames®,
LLC, an advocate of indie games and developer of the Torque® product
line, today announces its 3 Step Studio™ suite of tools and templates,
and the launch of a Kickstarter
campaign to help fund its development and ensure that the basics may
be offered for free. 3 Step Studio is being created for game
enthusiasts, artists and designers who wish to make and share games for
the iOS, Windows and Mac platforms. 3 Step Studio requires no
programming experience, making the process ‘as easy as 1-2-3’.

The 3 Step Studio suite includes free genre-specific templates and tools
that help aspiring game designers create and share their game for iPad,
iPhone, Windows and Mac in three easy steps: Select a template,
customize the game play and art – or upload your art to ‘make it your
own’, and then publish the results for others to play. The basic tools
and templates will be available for free to use, with advanced tools,
templates and additional content available through micro-transactions.

"Gamers everywhere have ideas for their own games, but often encounter
the roadblocks of programming and prohibitive pricing of most
development tools. 3 Step Studio removes those obstacles and clears the
way for their creativity,” said Kyle Miller, product manager for the 3
Step Studio line. “We are filling that void of a game design suite
specifically for the enthusiast, student, aspiring game designer or
artist.”

Initially, 3 Step Studio will launch with templates for a physics
launcher, tower defense and blackjack-style gameplay. Future plans
include templates for platform-style, RPG and many other popular game
genres, depending upon funding support and community demand.

The GarageGames
leadership team boasts more than three decades combined of game
development experience, is known for its robust Torque
engine and tools – recently made open source and available on GitHub
via the MIT license, and has long been an enabler of innovation
and the independent, community-driven game movement. As such, they have
embraced the DIY trend that has emerged with the rise of the mobile,
tablet and social platforms as the game industry has evolved and
redefined itself to reach a broader audience.

"The truth is making games is very hard and often costly; the majority
of people never finish their first game. We set out to address this by
designing the most intuitive tools to help you make a game without
compromising personal expression," said Eric Preisz, CEO of GarageGames.
“Much of our company’s history over that last 11 years has been in
helping students, beginners and small teams make games. If you have any
interest in being a game developer, then 3 Step Studio is where you
should start."

While being an affordable and accessible solution for students,
enthusiasts and non-programming designers and artists, 3 Step Studio is
also a great prototyping tool for more experienced developers, allowing
them to quickly test game ideas and play balance new features without
significant resource investment.

GarageGames is hoping to raise enough money through Kickstarter to help
offset the development costs for 3 Step Studio, to enable work on
additional genre templates, and, most importantly, to ensure that the
basic templates and tools are available for free to everyone. The 3 Step
Studio Kickstarter
campaign launches today and runs through February 2, 2013. For
additional information or to view the 3 Step Studio introduction video,
please visit Kickstarter
or the 3 Step Studio website.

About GarageGames, LLC:

Based in the Summerlin community of Las Vegas, Nevada, GarageGames is an
independent developer and provider of the 3 Step Studio suite of tools
for game enthusiasts and aspiring designers, the recently released
open-source Torque 3D and Torque 2D, and the full-featured Torque
product line that enables independent developers, beginners and
hobbyists to create games for platforms, including iOS, PC and Mac. For
more information, visit www.garagegames.com.

3 Step Studio™ is a trademark, and GarageGames® and Torque Game Engine®
are registered trademarks of GarageGames, LLC. All other marks contained
herein are the property of their respective companies.